Last November I was at the Alabama Association of Realtors of conference, sitting outside, when I got a phone call from a producer at HGTV. At first, I didn’t think it was real. They told me they were calling from HGTV and wanted me to be on one of the episodes. Over the course of the next month, I went through the interview process. We had Skype interviews and phone interview. It was a long process, but was so worth it.

Why did HGTV call you?

HGTV wanted to focus on Lake Martin and a particular price point and a young family. They heard about me. I involved a young couple that they had sold a house to the year before from Auburn with 2 young children, Holly and John Parker.

So, the Parkers had already purchased a lake home?

Yes – they purchased a lake home through me a year ago. So they used the home they purchased as the final choice. I picked 3 additional homes that were currently on the market to be the other options. This is how they do those home purchase shows due to the time constraints for filming. The Parker’s had not seen those homes before so their reactions to the homes were genuine. One of the reasons I wanted to work with Holly and John on the HGTV show is because they were very vocal and verbal, I knew they would be very honest. Holly and her husband John (Parker) are so real. Their little girl, who is an adorable red head, and their little boy did the best of all.

How long did it take to shoot the program?

Four solid days of filming in the freezing cold in November. It was 28 degrees. Started at 6am and finished at 6pm.

It’s unbelievable what it took to do it. A team of 12 men came down from New York, one was lighting, one was sound, several camera men, a coordinator and one who was the runner. What was so funny is that we got so close and we have stayed in touch for several months afterwards. And of course, I am very close to my Auburn couple.

What was shooting like?

By day 3 you are so tired and there are so many takes. That one little clip may have taken 10 or 12 takes and it was so hard to remember what in the world I said! There was one person on staff that their job was to help me to remember what I said so I could repeat it if there was another take!

We were at the silo at Wind State Park and we were shaking so violently it was so cold. You couldn’t tell on the TV show, they made it look like it was warm. They would wrap us in warm blankets. And as soon as the director said “Action” they snatched the blankets off.

After the crew left, a few weeks later, a two man aerial team came with a drone. One man handled the camera and another man handle the drone. The drone was massive and it did photographs of all the houses in the show. These guys were top notch professionals.

What was the most challenging part of the process?

The most challenging thing had to be that the producers compressed those 4 days into 22 minutes for the show. I don’t know how they did that. It was a huge job.

How has the show impacted your business?

I was so excited about the exposure that Lake Martin got. You would not believe how many phone calls, listings and buyers I have had because of that TV show. Calls from all over the country!

What is the farthest away?

Probably California and they did buy a lake house. Some from the Northeast.

If you had to do it over, would you do the show again?

It was such a great experience and I would do it again!

This episode of HGTV’s Lake Front Bargain Hunt is available on Youtube for $1.99. Click here